Perl Best Practices
February 6th, 2010 by CGI & PHP.com
- ISBN13: 9780596001735
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Many programmers code by instinct, relying on convenient habits or a "style" they picked up early on. They aren't conscious of all the choices they make, like how they format their source, the names they use for variables, or the kinds of loops they use. They're focused entirely on problems they're solving, solutions they're creating, and algorithms they're implementing. So they write code in the way that seems natural, that happens intuitively, and that feels good…. More >>
Popularity: 2% [?]
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February 6th, 2010 at 8:12 am
The author has compiled a list of arbitrary recommendations ("use four-column indention levels", "don't use the 'unless' statement", "always use the /x flag on regexes"). You are bound to gain more from almost any other Perl book out there which explores the language and not the author's pet peeves.
Rating: 1 / 5
February 6th, 2010 at 9:41 am
This book will not help you write better code. It is filled with useless tips like "ALWAYS CALL SUBROUTINES WITH PARENTHESES" and "ALWAYS RETURN VIA AN EXPLICIT RETURN". How silly! Stick to the advice found in Programming Perl (aka the Perl Bible).
Rating: 1 / 5
February 6th, 2010 at 11:17 am
Writing s{ ,z }{}xms when you mean s/,$// (as suggested in this book) is borderline idiocy. If I wanted to be needlessly verbose, I would have written it in Java. s/,$// is concise and works in sed and vi too.
Rating: 1 / 5
February 6th, 2010 at 11:43 am
Talks about many topics. Some are at my level of comprehension, other are too technical for me. Some chapters are really very interesting, other less (typical consideration on a book that writes about so many different topics).
I strongly suggest to read this book, it makes you aware of many good practices and ideas.
Rating: 4 / 5
February 6th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
"Perl Best Practices" provides a good tour of the current features of
Perl 5.8.x and sheds light on all the corners of the language except
one. I didn't understand why there is no info on Win32 Perl (use
"chomp" instead of "chop", stuff like that). The book would have been
better if it hadn't shied away from that. It seems like Conway
decided to leave OS-specific best practices for another book. Apart
from that one gripe the book is quite good and will force the reader
to think about ways to improve his programming even though no one will
agree with everything. The books strongest point is that it touches
on the oldest parts of the language and also some really new stuff
like importing Perl 6 behavior via CPAN modules, and ties it all
together into a coherent body of thought. The thing that really
shines is how much Conway understands how Perl works as a programming
language and is honest about where it's lacking. Apart from the
absence of any Win32 or other OS-specific content, this book is a
treasure and worth owning and referring to often.
Rating: 4 / 5